Under the sharkfin

[delloro]

Getting ready to install a rack which will interfere with my sharkfin satellite antenna. I don't care for XM, so I was willing to live without it in order to have a full length rack floor.

So I removed the sharkfin. And I was disappointed to see what was inside.

No need for such a tall assembly. It could have been 1/2" tall.

 

[simple]

Heh, first thanks for posting that just out of natural curiosity. Second that's interesting. For those of us who do care, it looks like maybe a stronger antenna may be an easyish swap.

How did you plug the shark fun hole?

 

[jstim]

Gething ready to install a rack which will interfere with my sharkfin satellite antenna. I don't care for XM, so I was willing to live without it in order to have a full length rack floor.

So I removed the sharkfin. And I was disappointed to see what was inside.

No need for such a tall assembly. It could have been 1/2" tall.

Is it no good any longer, might you consider getting rid of it?

 

[Zach_F]

How did you plug the shark fun hole?

Ummmm...

 

[transworldmoto]

Epic^

 

[delloro]

I covered it with an outside duty electric box cover from home depot. I coated the roof with wax, and used silicone to seal it. It should peel off later when I need to remove it.

I am going to keep the original and see of I can make a low profile cover. Won't know how low the profile needs to be until the rack is installed.

I will update this thread when I have more info. More pics in my album.

 

[mace.]

[MENTION=122831]delloro[/MENTION] Are you doing a custom rack or modifying one that is currently manufactured?

 

[delloro]

Drabbits rack, ordered without cutout.

 

[Engineer]

Good to know, thanks for posting.

I think if it was me I would take that top cover, cut the top off and then do some body work to fill the open top. Image it would be fairly easy given you could do the work inside/at your own pace, its not a large piece and if its not perfect no worries, its on the roof.

What lead you to order the rack without the cutout for the shark fin?

 

[flyinhawaiian01]

Interesting photos (albeit, a bit too tiny for me to see well), but there's something missing from your antenna that mine had!

You see, there's a short fin-like antenna that mine had mounted to the pc board, it looked like either an FM-diversity antenna, or perhaps the antenna for remote start.

In any case, my SR5 had the non-entune radio and the triple coax plug under the headliner only had one connecter installed, so neither of the two antennas were connected to the system.

Anyways, the reason why the housing is so tall is because that diversity antenna fits all the way to the top of the fin.

Not sure where I put the guts from mine, as I replaced it with the stock Pioneer gps antenna inside the housing and mounted it all back on the vehicle.

Oh yeah, as for covering that hole up for good, just get a plastic plug, something like this one:

Then get some clear bra material, around a 2 or 3 square inch piece (just ask for a small piece from any tint shop that does clear bras, I'm sure they'll just give it to you for free) and place it directly over the plug and the roof!

No water should get it and its completely removable without a disaster of adhesive or damaged paint, and it should last many years on the roof without falling apart. That area is NOT where I would want a water leaking into the vehicle!

 

[ic0517]

Am I missing something here?

I think the OP is saying there is nothing sticking up in the shark fin, and if some company made a lower profile cover, you could just put the rack on and be done with it?

 

[delloro]

Am I missing something here?

I think the OP is saying there is nothing sticking up in the shark fin, and if some company made a lower profile cover, you could just put the rack on and be done with it?

You miss nothing.

I am thinking of having some made via 3D printing.

 

[flyinhawaiian01]

Well, judging by your first post, I assumed you just didn't want the antenna at all:

I don't care for XM, so I was willing to live without it in order to have a full length rack floor.

So I removed the sharkfin. And I was disappointed to see what was inside.


Having said that in the first post, I came up with a solution to cover the holes in the roof, rather than having some electrical box siliconed to the roof of the 4 runner.

Since the OP doesn't care about xm, just unplug it and cover the holes up, done!

If the OP wants to replace it with another antenna, get a 7 dollar XM replacement antenna from Ebay or Amazon, then splice it into the OEM harness! Takes about 20 minutes to do yourself and you don't need to fabricate anything at all. Magnetic antenna will stick to the roof, wire can come straight out of the small hole with a rubber grommet and some sealant.

Or, if the OP doesn't wanna spend anything on it, grind the fin off so its flat, tape the bottom of the cover, fill the top with bodyfiller, sand it flat, paint it and put it back on.

 

[delloro]

I don't care if I have it or not, but if I sell it, the buyer might. I also would prefer to keep functionality if I can, all else being equal. XM might become awesome or useful to me in the future.

I am considering cutting it down, but still haven't decided. It will have to be cut pretty low, so the body filler idea may not work.

 

[DesertCanyons]

Shark fin removal

I don't care if I have it or not, but if I sell it, the buyer might. I also would prefer to keep functionality if I can, all else being equal. XM might become awesome or useful to me in the future.

I am considering cutting it down, but still haven't decided. It will have to be cut pretty low, so the body filler idea may not work.

It's good to see your photos posted again. Thanks for the PM on your methods.

I am about to order a Baja Rack and hope to eliminate the shark fin cut-out. Here in LA we don't need Xm radio as much and I mostly listen to NPR anyway.

BTW, how long did you wait for your Drabbit's rack?

As a plug idea, I think a flat stainless steel plate over a flat rubber piece with a small SS bolt through the rooftop hole would work for the cover and be removable later. I'd save the Shark Fin for later too, for the same reasons you give.

 

[flyinhawaiian01]

I don't care if I have it or not, but if I sell it, the buyer might. I also would prefer to keep functionality if I can, all else being equal. XM might become awesome or useful to me in the future.

I am considering cutting it down, but still haven't decided. It will have to be cut pretty low, so the body filler idea may not work.

Then I'd just say disconnect it and cover the holes with clear bra, that material is quite thick and shouldn't have a problem holding up for many years.

You can then just keep the antenna for when/if you sell the vehicle. If you have someone who knows how to solder coax, you can always add on an aftermarket xm/sirius antenna and just have it plug into the stock connector (that blue and white 3 way coax plug the oem antenna was plugged into).

I just did this about a month or so ago with my Pioneer deck for gps. Cut the coax from the Pioneer's stock mag-mount antenna, but I just cut the 3 way connector off and spliced the Pioneer into that. That connector is actually just a short extender anyways, if you follow that wire into the passenger's side, it plugs into another molex connector, so if I ever want to put it back to stock, I will need to just order that extension and put the guts back in the sharkfin antenna (I ripped it out and put the Pioneer antenna inside it).

Soldering coax properly, especially for the small coax they use for UHF frequencies, is not very easy and has to be done correctly or it will not work. That's why I suggest having someone who's familiar with rf coax connections to do the work.

 

[delloro]

BTW, how long did you wait for your Drabbit's rack?

6 mos. but I knew that going in. it was worth it - very low, very nice. and Alex and his wife are super nice people too.

 

[DesertCanyons]

Drabbits rack

6 mos. but I knew that going in. it was worth it - very low, very nice. and Alex and his wife are super nice people too.

Thanks for the info. I hope to meet up with you in a week or two when I pick up my Domello sliders. I'd like to see your rack too, if possible.

 

[delloro]

Thanks I'd like to see your rack too, if possible.

^My EYES are UP HERE^

 

[sgarciaDev]

You miss nothing.

I am thinking of having some made via 3D printing.

Did you ever print out some lower profile covers for the OEM base?